Dragon Raja 5; Chapter 287: For Your Majesty (102)

Dragon Raja 5

“Inside is an anonymous bank card with a 32-digit PIN. Anyone who knows the PIN can use it.” Christina scribbled the PIN on a napkin. “There are $20 million in the card. It’s an operation fund specially approved by the Security Bureau through the Treasury Department. Originally, I thought I might have a chance to go to the auction, but I checked with the others, and they all had at least $50 million with them.”

She solemnly handed the coded paper to Lu Mingfei, her arm outstretched, as if she were wiping his face.

“Now that you have a chip, I’ll give you mine!” Christina stared into Lu Mingfei’s eyes.

That stubbornness and the courage to take a gamble stirred something in Lu Mingfei’s heart.

It’s easy to see that this money was hard-earned and came with enormous responsibility. Even James Bond, when participating in a secret gambling game with MI5 money, needed a treasurer to prevent him from squandering it. If Lu Mingfei absconded with the money, Christina would have to take the blame. Her adoptive father was an honest official, and probably didn’t have much wealth to cover her losses.

Out of revolutionary fervor or inexplicable trust, Christina handed over her trump card to Lu Mingfei: the comics he had read as a child.

In that world, entrusting one’s life was just a matter of a word. It was always “Take my sword/inner core/mecha/sacred armor and go to battle!” How many heroes died because of a girl’s gaze and such entrustment! If you had just been a little more assertive or lowered your eyes and avoided looking into those bright eyes, you could have left gracefully, no matter how much the villain struggled, how many people were killed and blood flowed like rivers. You could still have a drink and a hot bath in a tavern in the distance, and maybe even meet a new beautiful girl when you go out.

Even now, he doesn’t feel like he’s part of Christina’s group; it’s just the young lady’s wishful thinking. But if he accepts this coded paper, it seems like he really will have to fight to the death.

He took the cipher paper, struck a match, lit it, and threw it into the ashtray, watching it slowly turn to ashes.

“What do you mean?” Christina roared. “You’re digging your own grave!”

“It’s just 32 characters, I can remember them at a glance.” Lu Mingfei drooped his eyebrows and continued drinking his tea.

Suddenly, hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor. Lu Mingfei frowned slightly, but Christina immediately reached into her handbag.

Presumably, the exquisite Raven pistol was hidden in her handbag. The intelligence officer did this with a resolute expression of being ready to die with the enemy.

It was a group of people wearing heavy military boots running wildly. Just by the sound of their footsteps, you could tell that they were a group of fierce and well-trained men. No similar armed personnel had appeared since they entered City 023.

Lu Mingfei grabbed Christina’s wrist, signaling her to calm down with his eyes. Sure enough, the group wasn’t after this apartment; footsteps passed the doorway, and they strode upstairs.

Lu Mingfei and Christina exchanged a glance. Just as they stepped out, they bumped into Alexander Bunin, who was rushing over. The old man had obviously run over after receiving the news, his feet covered in snow and mud, and his bearskin hat and sable coat were covered in snow.

Although he was in a great hurry, the old man was still stunned when he saw Christina come out of Lu Mingfei’s room. He stared at the two of them, panting heavily, looking like an old bear whose honey had been stolen.

“Breakfast! Miss Christina and I was having breakfast!” Lu Mingfei quickly opened the door to show him the empty breakfast cart, secretly glad he had folded the blankets…

Bunin breathed a sigh of relief, but before he could say a few words to ease the awkward situation, Okinez arrived with several distinguished guests. The usually composed young man appeared slightly flustered, but his eyes were unusually sharp, as if he were a KGB cadre who had traveled from the Soviet era.

Bunin looked sternly at Christina, “Go back to your room!”

“What right do you have to tell me what to do?” Christina retorted immediately, her beautiful eyebrows raised almost to the top of her head.

Lu Mingfei reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder. “Miss Christina, please wait in my room for a moment. I’ll go check and come back to tell you what happened.”

Christina probably couldn’t understand why her hastily recruited underlings had suddenly sided with her father. Just as she was about to lash out, Auchinez led his men through them and went straight upstairs.

“Shouldn’t comrades trust each other?” Lu Mingfei said in a deep voice, increasing the pressure on his hands.
Faced with her secretary’s sudden change in demeanor, Christina found herself unable to retaliate.

Frustrated, she turned and went back into the house, slamming the door shut behind her. Lu Mingfei followed Bunin upstairs. The narrow corridor was crowded with people, mostly men wearing military boots and long, dark gray coats. It was obvious at a glance that they were hiding weapons under their coats.

Security guards had blocked the door to an apartment building, where Okinez and his men were arguing loudly in Russian. Bunin waved his hand coldly, temporarily calming the situation, and the guards made way for Bunin and Lu Mingfei.

The apartment was filled with steam and playing melodious music. Lu Mingfei actually knew the name of that old song, “The Volga Boatmen’s Song,” which was quite well-known in China back in the day and often appeared in medleys of veteran artists.

Rose petals floated on the blood-red water, the faucet still spewing water, overflowing from the bronze bathtub. Vishnyak, the young man best known for his sailor’s dance, lay silently in the blood, his body so pale.

Although he had a vague idea of ​​what this scene would be like, Lu Mingfei was still shocked by the large expansion of blood red and felt nauseous.

The reason he didn’t let Christina come up was because he smelled a faint odor of blood. If he could smell blood even from one floor away, he could imagine a scene of rivers of blood.

“When was it discovered?” Bunin asked in a low voice.

The head guard glanced at his watch. “Eight minutes ago, blood seeped from the floor to the floor below.”

“Time of death?”

“Around seven or eight in the morning. He must have come back from the bar, filled a tub with hot water for a bath, and then cut his wrist artery in the tub,” the guard said. “Typical suicide, the death process is very long, usually one or two hours.”

Lu Mingfei had also heard of this method of suicide: after drinking heavily, one lies in a bathtub filled with warm water, cuts the wrist artery, and the blood slowly flows out. The person gradually loses consciousness due to lack of oxygen, and finally, the heart stops beating. Among the many methods of suicide, this is one of the least painful, but it requires enduring immense psychological pressure because you know you are experiencing death every second before you lose consciousness.